Operation: Tempt Me (10 page)

Standing with
his hands on his hips, his height was magnificent. “You expecting me to turn
tail and run as fast as I can, or something?” Miller said softly but with an
edge to his tone, like he was aggravated.

“How did you
know what I was thinking?” She couldn’t keep the shock from her question.

“Baby, I make
a living reading people. In my line of work, it keeps me alive.” His hands
grasped her arms and he leaned down to her ear. “I don’t plan on leaving unless
you tell me to go or my orders come in. The only place I ran was here…to meet
you.”

With a whoosh
of air from her lungs, she relaxed as he leaned back and studied her. The
friskiness welling up inside her became overwhelming. “Can you tell what I’m
thinking right now, Miller?”

His eyes
darkened. “It better be about getting naked with me.”

She laughed
and began unbuttoning her blouse. His eyes fixated on the movement of her
fingers. “It’s exactly what I’m thinking. But I need to make a request.”

“Christ,
anything.”

“The first
time we make love, no toys. Just you. Okay?”

His gaze rose
to meet hers. “Agreed. Just us this first time.” Long fingers grazed her
shoulders after she shrugged off her blouse. “Feeling all your softness and
beauty. Then I want to feel the wild woman hiding inside here.” His thumb
brushed across the swell of her breast to her heart.

When his lips
landed on hers, something deep inside her awakened, a feeling of finding what
was missing. His kiss was sharper this time, like he claimed her. Delving deep
into his mouth, she relished the feeling of heat and strength. Strong hands
gripped her sides, pulling her against his hard chest, never breaking the
connection of their mouths.

She moaned,
the sound swallowed up by his mouth. The way his tongue roamed inside her
mouth, like he was sipping at sweetness, unnerved her with its patience.
Leaving her mouth to trail along the side of her neck, Miller’s lips left a
fiery wet path wherever they touched. Leaning her head back, she offered him
the access he demanded, wanting his kisses to pamper her skin with their
attention.

Her hands
busied themselves, wandering over the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders.
Crossing over the tattoo on his upper arm brought her crashing back to reality.

“What’s
wrong?” he asked when she stiffened and pushed back.

“The tattoo.
I need to know who she is before we continue. I need to know if there’s another
woman in your life. I…I just don’t operate that way. I won’t be anyone’s
plaything.”

The frown
covered his face, reflecting slow burning anger. “Don’t ever insult yourself
like that. I’d never use you, Cambrie. Let’s get that straight right now. I
sure as hell wouldn’t hightail it from my mission the second it was over if I
wasn’t totally into you.”

She crossed
her arms, vulnerability rearing its ugly head. “Then why’d you say that tat is
of me when you know damn well we only just met. The picture you shared with me
was a year old and you had that tat then. Explain.”

He crossed
his arms to match her stance. Not backing down a bit, he spoke slowly. “I love
temper in a woman. Good to see you have one. Now I don’t have a clue how to
explain this tattoo. You’ll only think I’m crazy.”

“Try me.”

The corner of
his mouth raised a bit to soften his hard stare. “You’ve come to me in my
dreams for over a year now. It’s driven me crazy and preoccupied my waking
hours. I can’t explain why I know it was you.” He sighed and continued. “This
tat, well, I had it done after one particular mission. I was cornered in a
building owned by a drug lord. After my team extracted me, I had your face
permanently etched into my arm. Wanted to carry your image with me. If
something were to happen to me, then you’d come with me into the next life. May
sound fucked up…I don’t know how to explain it. But you have my word, there is
you and no other woman, Cambrie.”

She moved his
arm and studied the artwork. “I’m hardly a mermaid, Miller.”

He laughed,
the deep sound filling the small bedroom, easing the awkward tension. “I made
the tat a mermaid because she was unique like I knew you’d be. She’s a mystical
creature, one that can’t be explained, wasn’t predictable. That’s how I felt
about every dream. I couldn’t explain you, and really didn’t want to. I was
just glad you kept coming back. The nights you didn’t appear in my dreams,
well, I’d wake up in the worst of moods. God help the poor fuck that got in my
way.”

Wow. She did
all that to him? “Can I tell you something and promise you won’t laugh?”

He smirked.
“Darling, did you not hear what I just said? I’m the last person to laugh. Now
spill.”

She rubbed
the tattoo with a gentle rhythm, admiring the detail. She had to admit, as odd
as it was, that the woman did resemble her. The long, dark brown hair flowing
around her like a halo, small face with a defined jaw line, lips parted and
waiting for a lover’s tongue, eyes half closed with lust. “You said earlier
that the men around here are blind because none of them have claimed me. That’s
partly my fault. Besides having absolutely no time to date, none of them
compared to the man I occasionally dreamt of on many restless nights. A man
larger than life. Someone I could imagine being myself with, no pretenses, no
fakeness. Someone I could share what’s inside here.” She placed his hand over
her heart. “The part of me that even I don’t really understand. The part of me
that goes against how I was raised. So while you dreamt of me, I like to think
you haunted me at night as well. My dream man.”

“Am I now?”
His voice vibrated with lust.

She swallowed
hard. “I’m glad you’re here, Miller. I’m sorry if I made you feel unwelcome in
my previous emails. I just didn’t know how to deal with my busy schedule, and I
wanted everything to be perfect when you arrived.”

“Then thank
you, Cambrie, honey.”

“For what?”

“For making
everything perfect. You continue to surpass my expectations in every way.” He
stepped closer until they stood toe to toe, the twinkle in his eyes lit up his
face. “I’m about to seduce you. Last chance to back out.”

Clearing her
throat, she asked the question she really didn’t want to hear an affirmative
answer to. “There’s no other woman in your life?” Just because the tattoo was
of the woman he dreamt of, didn’t mean there wasn’t another woman in his life.

His gaze
remained on hers. Never flinching, he spoke clearly. “No. Hasn’t been for a
long time. And you? Any guy I need to pound on?”

She laughed.
“Nope. So let the seduction begin,” she said, flipping her hair over her
shoulder while angling her head, not feeling shy standing in her bra.

“God, we
think alike. Love it,” he said, pulling his shirt over his head, baring a chest
rippled with muscles and a fine mat of brown hair that disappeared in a V into
his pants.

His hands
roamed up and down her back before inching over her ass. Long fingers kneaded
her cheeks through her skirt. Her hips pushed forward grinding her clit against
the hardness of his thigh. Her pussy awakened with jealousy, needing attention
desperately. Oh, how she wanted his hands everywhere on her body all at once.
Didn’t matter that it wasn’t physically possible. She just
needed
it.

When Miller’s
lips covered hers, she melted against him, loving the way he held her up with
no effort at all. He tasted of heat so potent, she swore he burned her lips.
But there was nothing she’d change about his approach. She came alive under his
ministrations, like an electrical wire sparking in all directions. The
manipulation of his fingers on her ass cheeks warned of his strength and his
seduction. The patient massaging, crawling inch by inch, over her ass drove her
insane with the need to feel his hands on her bare skin.

“The skirt.
Take it off. If I do it, babe, I’ll only rip it,” he choked, his voice
strangled as he laid wet kisses across her jawbone.

With shaking
fingers, she found the clasp on the back of the skirt and undid it. Stepping
back from him, she immediately missed his body heat. Feeling sexier than ever
before, she slowed down her movements and allowed the material to shimmy over
her hips and down her thighs until it pooled at her feet and she could step out
of it. Standing before Miller in beige thigh highs, tiny panties and demi bra,
Cambrie should’ve felt the urge to cover up. But instead, the look in his eyes,
pure animal lust, gave her all the prompting she needed to continue her teasing
moves.

“Don’t stop.
I want you naked. I’ve endured too many tormenting dreams. Strip now, baby. Or
I can help you.” His tone thrilled her with its manly demands and the lust
hidden behind each word. No doubt he meant what he said.

Oh, what a
feeling to be the center of Miller’s attention right now, knowing that he had
seen so much more than she had in this life. And yet, here she was, standing
half naked in her bedroom, captivating him beyond his control.

Hell, yeah!
Now this was addictive. More powerful than anything she had ever experienced.

“I’ll tell
you what, Miller.” She ran her fingers under her bra straps. “Get naked with
me.”

A low growl
emanated from his throat, but his gaze remained on her while he sat on the edge
of her bed and untied his boots, leaving them neatly on the floor once he
shoved his socks inside. Standing before her, he wasted no time undoing his
pants. When he pulled each leg free of the jeans, he tossed the pants to the
side, stood and crossed his arms facing her. She studied his long frame dressed
only in dark green boxer shorts and felt a little cheated since the material
hid the bulge that lay behind it.

Without a
word, he waited for her to continue, his breathing increasing and the swell of
his chest showcasing magnificent muscles with each rise and fall.

Reaching
behind her back, she unsnapped the clasp, loosening the lacy material. Keeping
her attention on his face, she watched his gaze roam down to her breasts as his
jaw tightened.

“You’re
killing me, Cambrie.”

The warning
fell on deaf ears. She was enjoying his torment too much to fear pushing it too
far. Driving him wild was part of her plan to give him the ultimate pleasure
tonight. She didn’t feel as inexperienced as her history proved.

“What a
shame,” she said, inching the bra down over her breasts until the ruched rosy
tips were exposed. Tossing the lacy material onto the floor, she whipped her
hair back over her shoulders with a quick flick of her neck before taking each
nipple between her thumbs and fingers and pinching them.

Without a
sound, Miller leapt forward, lifted Cambrie by the waist earning a loud squeal
of pleasure. He lowered her onto the bed with his massive body as a blanket.
The weight of him pressed her deeply into the soft mattress. She reveled in the
moment, in the closeness of this sexy man whose hard body was so gentle.

Without
warning, his lips latched onto her nipple and sucked hard, his tongue lapping
at it like she were a special treat. Arching her head back, she cried out. “Oh,
yes!”

With her
hands unable to fist in his hair because it was too short, she resorted to
holding him by the back of the head to keep his delicious attention on her
breast. Her short fingernails dug into his scalp, but the low growl escaping
from his busy mouth only proved he was as aroused by her actions as she was by
his.

Within
seconds, he had her so aroused and needy. She yearned for rougher, harder,
faster. He’d made her vibrator an obsolete toy. Now what the hell would she do
to achieve an orgasm once he left and she couldn’t replicate what he was doing
now?

She’d be
doomed to crave him like a potent obsession. And she’d yet to even feel an
orgasm brought on by Miller’s attentions but, from the way it built deep inside
her womb, like a smoldering flame bursting to life, she expected to be addicted
to him as soon as the climatic sensation captured her.

Losing
herself in the moment, she was swept away by the desires swirling around them.
The heat from their bodies fed her pulse until her heartbeat roared in her
ears. With every inch of her body craving Miller’s touch, Cambrie squirmed
under his massive body. Pinned in place with not much room to move, she was
desperate to keep his hungry mouth on her heated flesh until he brought her the
explosion her pussy begged for. Above her, Miller’s body trembled. Was it from
holding his weight off of her? Doubtful. The guy looked like he bench-pressed
refrigerators.

“Cambrie,
honey. I want to go slow. Really. But I can’t promise anything once I’m inside
you. I’m afraid I’ll lose any control I have.” His mouth struggled to form the
words as he kissed the swells of her breasts.

Keeping her
hands busy massaging his firm muscles, she didn’t want to stop touching him. “I
don’t want slow. Just want you, Miller. All of you. Inside me. Now.”

Her breathing
hitched against the side of his neck when he climbed up her body, his heat
encompassing her in a blanket of warmth. Her hands had a mind of their own,
running along his upper body. They glided over his smooth skin, memorizing
every outline of his muscles on his back, shoulders, arms.